


Love Me Kindly

by bottlemanjams



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon, Canon Compliant, Five Years Later, M/M, No Spoilers, One Shot, Romantic Fluff, didnt read the manga when i wrote this
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-05
Updated: 2016-06-05
Packaged: 2018-07-12 09:45:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,103
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7097419
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bottlemanjams/pseuds/bottlemanjams
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>5 years after the events of the last episode of season 1 (ignoring all important plot elements and just focusing on the general situation). </p><p>Small conversations between a soldier and his captain.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Love Me Kindly

**Author's Note:**

> Eren is 20 and Levi is 39.

Under the light of a candle, tired eyes attempted to focus on the letter written in messy cursive.

Hanji had never been one for spectacular handwriting and now it was truly starting to affect him. It was way too late at night to be trying to differentiate between the letters U and V, M and N and T and F.

 

Way too late.

 

Eventually, the captain gave up; pushing the small pile of documents aside and laying his head on the desk; quietly trying to knock the life back into him by thumping his head on the surface. The ink in the well rattled, splashing onto the sleeve of his uniform. He watched through one eye as it sunk deeper into the fabric; spreading and leaking through to his shirt.

 

Levi stood, shedding himself of the stained jacket and rolling up the sleeves of his shirt. The cravat was removed next and neatly tossed onto the back of his ass-breaking chair; boots being slung across to room to land by the side of a bookcase. He did appreciate cleanliness, granted. However, this was his own space and it’s not like germs were being spread around this way. He began to remove his shirt out of pure irritation.

 

In the instant he touched the top button, there was a light and cautious knock at the door. Levi had no time to straighten himself out before answering, only sitting back down, and decided that it didn’t matter; his reputation backing him up in situations like this. Strongly, but careful not to wake anyone, he called for the person to enter.

 

Eren saluted as he walked in; respectfully addressing his captain.

“Hanji wishes for a response to her proposal, sir.”

Levi sighed, motioning for him to put down his fist. “At ease, soldier. I would if I could.”

“What seems to be the problem?”

“I can’t decipher her bloody handwriting.”

“It can’t be all that bad, sir.”

Levi gestured for Eren to come over. “See for yourself.”

 

Eren began to try and read the letter, squinting and shuffling on his feet. “My apologies, sir. I can’t even tell if this word is ‘best’ or ‘breast’.”

“I think it’s ‘best’.” Levi massaged his temples as Eren attempted to stifle his laughter in front of his superior officer. “God knows why she’d put ‘breast’ in there.”

“Knowing the squad leader, I actually wouldn’t be all that shocked if she did. In fact, I’d more so expect it.”

“It’s plausible.”

 

The soldier passed the letter back to his captain, who folded it and placed it among others. “Send a message to Hanji telling her to learn how to write.” He began to open a drawer, searching for an already sealed letter. “Give this to her, too. Should keep her happy.”

“May I ask what it is?”

“Permission for her to conduct experiments on abnormals. Lets hope it’s worth it.”

“She’ll be incredibly pleased.”

“Mhm.” Levi stretched; kicking out his legs under the desk.

“You’re dismissed for tonight. I know Hanji is probably exhausting you and you’ll be no good to us dead on your feet tomorrow morning. Get some rest.”

Eren nodded thankfully. “Yes, sir.”

  


_______________________________________

  


“How are you feeling?” Mikasa questioned, taking a bite from her bread.

“Good. Captain Levi dismissed me earlier than usual so I could have some rest from Hanji’s experiments.”

“That’s good of him. You think that after these years, she would’ve been done with those tests.”

Eren stretched; scratching at a faint stubble under his chin. “Yeah, you would've thought so.” He paused to take a scoop of his food; swallowing before speaking again. “Where’s Armin?”

“Asleep.” She replied. “He caught a cold and Mike said that it would be best if he had a lie-in to reduce the chances of anyone else getting it.”

“Ah, okay. You been to see him, then?”

“Yeah, he’s sniffly but okay.”

“Alright.”

 

They ate in silence; more so listening to everyone else having conversations.

 

“Hey, Eren; have you seen Armin?” Jean called from another table.

“He’s in bed with a cold.”

He nodded, returning to talking with the others.

 

“Didn’t know those two were friends.” Eren commented, eating his food whilst assessing Jean.

“They’re not close, but Armin sees the good in Jean you don’t.” Mikasa idly mentioned, ignoring the half-hearted glare she received as Eren rested his head in his hands.

“Speaking of friends; you’re not as scared of Levi as you used to be.”

“No reason to be.” His gaze found Levi on a table with the rest of his superiors; exchanging in polite conversation with the commander. “I can control my form now so I don’t have to worry about him slicing me up.”

 

Mikasa hummed in acknowledgement.

 

Eren finished up his meal, leaving to get to work around HQ. Captain Levi had ordered Eren to tend to the horses’ stables; a job he surprisingly didn’t mind. He was alone in there so that meant he could take his time. After a while, the smell doesn’t even bother you.

“Jaeger.”

 

Eren looked over his shoulder; restocking the haylage in his horse’s stable.

“Evening, sir. I would salute but my hands are full.”

“That’s fine. I came to check on the condition of my horse’s stable.”

“Ah, yeah I already did hers. You’re free to criticize my hard work.”  

“I know I’m free to; I’m your superior.”

 

Levi wandered into his mare’s stable, absentmindedly checking for any left over muck. He warily lifted up the rubber mat, happy to find it clean.

“Excellent, soldier.”

“Thank you, sir.”

 

He continued to stuff the haylage into the net, not watching as his captain entered the stable next to him and rested on the wood separating the two.

 

“Why do you like cleaning the stables? It’s just scooping shit.”

The shifter paused, scratching at the stubble on his jaw.

“Well, I like being outside. Plus, horses don’t talk.”

Levi buried his head in his crossed arms still on the wooden panel and laughed quietly, shaking his head. “Alright, I understand that.”

 

It was quiet for a few moments as Eren hung up the net of haylage.

 

“Why do _you_ like being here?”

 

The question caught the captain off guard. He was surprised for a moment before letting a smile pass through his lips. “Am I that obvious?”

 

Eren chuckled, turning to face Levi. “A little. So, tell me why you like being here.”

“Do I have to say it out loud?”

“Yes, absolutely.”

He softly laughed, burying his face in his arms again. “I like spending time with you.”

 

A grin spread across Eren’s features.

  
“I know.”


End file.
